Star Trek: Mirrors
by Ariston-1
Summary: Realities Collide as Captain James Tobias Kirk of the United Earth Alliance Starship Enterprise is thrown into an alternate reality to search for a missing Romulan Republic cruiser's crew. Discovering a galaxy at war with an enemy force known as 'The Dominion', the only hope, is a dangerous assignment which may destroy a young and delicate Alliance.
1. Chapter 1

_Star Trek: Mirrors._

 _Chapter One_

Exploring beyond the confines of the Earth's gravitational pull had been left to Probes launched on large rockets into the vastness of space for over a century, until finally the secrets of faster-tan-light travel had been discovered by the once primitive and violent species known as Humanity. Failing to launch his prototype vessel as planned in the early days of April in the year 2063 due to mechanical problems with the vessel itself, the first flight beyond the furthest human exploration almost one century earlier, finally had taken place on May 3rd 2063. Upon his return to his home planet, the records of the first flight by humans beyond the planet's orbit had been transmitted across the planet on all frequencies with detailed high resolution images of the home planet which had never been seen by human eyes from such a vast distance.

In the following years, two new vessels where designed and constructed by a United Earth Government as for the first time in recorded Human history, an era of planetary cooperation had begun with the promise of exploration of the Final Frontier and exploration of the vast and unknown galaxy. Twenty years to the day after the first Warp Flight, the first purpose designed vessel of exploration had launched from the Z _ephram Cochrane Institute of Advanced Propulsion Technologies_ with the first test flight of a new engine design capable of carrying a crew of eight humans to the closest planetary neighbour capable of human exploration, the planet Mars. Once again transmitted across the planet as the first humans stepped foot on the distant planet for a three week survey of the planet itself, the crew of eight returned to Earth onboard their vessel known as USS Pioneer, as heroes and living legends. In the following years, a permanent research outpost had been established on the Red Planet and by the dawn of 2100, permanent colonies of humans had arisen on the Earth's Moon and Mars along with plans to mine the asteroid belt for the valuable minerals recently discovered.

Although still confined to the Sol System with a growing fleet of Warp Capable vessels, Humanity was still alone in the vastness of space as extra-terrestrial life had yet to be discovered by mankind by the Earth year 2120…

In the Earth Year 2269.

Once considered as a dangerous, violent and self-destructive species by many within the Galaxy, Humanity had finally come of age by the dawn of 2200 operating a vast fleet of Starships and owning planets and outposts throughout the known galaxy many species had since looked at Humanity as a beacon of light in the galactic community, although hostilities had still arisen between some of the great powers of the galaxy and the ever growing sphere of Earth's influence, Humanity had always found a way to ease the tensions with their violent neighbours while forging alliances with numerous worlds.

One of the most advanced vessels launched from the United Earth Space Probe Agency had been the USS Enterprise, a large and sleek high warp capable vessel which had served the UESPA faithfully of the Flagship of the old United Earth Alliance. Assigned to work along side their Allies of the Galactic Alliance of Worlds, a seemingly ever growing alliance of multiple powers in the quadrants across the galaxy, the USS Enterprise was one of many multi-cultural vessels with crew from the numerous allied worlds under the command of a legendary human male, Captain James Tobias Kirk. Known as a brilliant commander of the Allied fleet and believed one day become the Human representative with the Galactic Alliance of Worlds, a coveted position as sought out by many officers, the tall, blonde haired Captain had quickly become a hero to many humans and non-humans alike for his tactical prowess in combat yet his delicate negotiation skills when dealing with both enemies and unknown species alike.

Leaving his assigned quarters for his daily routine of a tour of his vessel at 0500 hours, galactic standard time, many of the crew had claimed that they could set their watches by the Captain's daily routine as he would enter each department for a brief update on the ship and personnel before beginning his shift on the bridge. Calmly stepping into the beating heart of the vessel, the engine room and largest department on the ship for an update of the status of the ship, one of his closest friends and hand selected officer, his Chief Engineer turned from his console with a cup of coffee in his left hand and a computer tablet containing the status reports in his right hand as he nodded.

"Thank you Mister Scott"

"We're in peak condition Jim. The new upgrades are on-line and we should be ready to exceed our speed records by mid-day" Replied the shaven headed Scottish Engineer.

"Warp 9.9? That'll make us the fastest ship in any fleet of the Alliance"

"Aye sir! We'll be leaving the others chewing in our space-dust. Once these upgrades are fully tested and approved by Command? We may have to recalculate the warp charts"

"One thing at a time Scotty. You've changed the coffee, what is it?" Kirk said as he sipped from the cup in his hand.

"I added a little spice this time, gives it more of that kick first thing in the morning. It goes great with Scotch in the evening"

"I'll take your word for that, see you at the morning briefing at 0830"

"As always Jim!"

Lasting one hour and thirty minutes to tour the ship, the Captain finally returned to his quarters to change from the off-duty fatigues into the standard uniform for his duty shift. Black boots, black trousers with pockets on each thigh and hips, a black v-neck undershirt had been the standard uniform for all officers of the United Earth Alliance, separated only by a black uniform jacket with a stripe across the chest which ran across the uniform and across the back with the departmental colours, Gold for Command operations, Blue for Sciences and Medical, Red for support and specialist crew such as Engineering and Green for Security and Military personnel. On the left breast of each uniform of crew, displayed the Standard Emblem of the United Earth Alliance, a metallic brushed silver, arrowhead emblem with a hollow circle behind the arrowhead, on the left shoulder a patch denoting the assigned vessel of the wearer whilst on the right, the emblem of the Galactic Alliance of worlds. Denoting rank of both officer and enlisted, the collar of the jacket proudly displayed the rank pins of each member of the crew as an homage to the old US Military rank pins.

Finally leaving his quarters as he nodded to each officer and enlisted he had passed on his route to the bridge of the ship, the Captain finally took his seat at the center of the bridge deep inside of the vessel before accessing the console to the left of his seat to announce his arrival on the bridge and assume command from the Night-shift commander.

"Captain Kirk, receiving a communication from Command. We are ordered to hold position and await the arrival of the USS Lantree"

"The Lantree is an old NV Class cruiser Captain. At their maximum speed, it will take fourteen hours for them to rendezvous at their last recorded location…" Called out the Helm Officer. "… Sir, at warp 8, we could rendezvous with the Lantree in one hour and fourteen minutes if we reverse our course?"

"Any indication as to why we have been ordered to hold position Lieutenant Uhura?"

"No Captain. By order of Admiral Barker" The young and beautiful Communications officer replied with a smile.

"Very well, Contact the Lantree. Inform them that we will reverse our course and meet them… Sulu, alter course"

"Aye sir, altering course to intercept the USS Lantree"

The most powerful ship in the Earth Armada, a long and sleek twin hull vessel began to turn slowly 164degrees towards the last known location of an old and over-worked science vessel of 40 years faithful service to Earth. Considered as perhaps the most powerful ship as created by human kind and pride of the United Earth Alliance, the sleek vessel with a forwards facing oval shaped primary hull which connected directly to a lower secondary hull seamlessly powered up the four large warp nacelles above and below the secondary hull in a cross shallow formation before leaping into warp speeds towards the USS Lantree.

 _Ship Log._

 _June 4_ _th_ _2269\. (Earth Calendar)_

 _We have rendezvoused with the USS Lantree, a Science Vessel dispatched to meet with the Enterprise several hours ahead of schedule. Under the orders of Admiral Joseph Barker, we have taken onboard a guest of which I am more than familiar with due to her extensive criminal record against the Galactic Alliance of Worlds._

 _For the record? I am not pleased with her arrival on my ship nor her orders as personally signed by the Admiral, the Joint Chiefs, President of the UEA… and co-signed by the President of the GAW._

 _How did this… woman, get a full pardon for her crimes?_

They say that good news travels at impulse speeds, but gossip travels at high warp and that was a fact onboard of the USS Enterprise as to the arrival of the young woman once a highly wanted criminal across the galaxy and more so due to her attire as she wore the Uniform of a Starfleet Officer with a rank proudly displayed on her green trimmed uniform. Against the orders as signed by the most powerful people in the joint Alliance, Captain Kirk had ordered a guard to remain at the side of the young woman during her time onboard his own command when she was not confined to the brig of the ship. Stepping into the observation room behind the bridge of the ship under heavy guard, looks of distaste echoed from each of Kirk's own command crew as she stood before the large curved table and her eyes scanned each of those before her as she spoke.

"Captain, your orders are clear. The guard is not needed"

"On my ship? I make the rules… the guard stays. Lieutenant West, have you checked this… woman for weapons?" Kirk replied with a deep anger for the woman stood before him.

"Yes Captain, the Lieutenant and I had great fun, checking each other for weapons. She can be very… thorough in her checks" She replied with a wink to the Lieutenant. "Captain Kirk? I am here under the orders of some very powerful people, beyond even you! And my orders are clear as are yours. You will proceed to the system as denoted in your orders and await further orders from me!"

"From you?" Lieutenant Sulu called out in anger.

"Yes, Lieutenant Sulu. From me! I have been given the full authority to take whatever actions are needed to complete the assignment, if that means that I must assume command of this ship? Then I will do so… but! Kirk is your Captain and I trust him and each of you. I have been granted a temporary rank of Brigadier General to fulfil this assignment, the clearance in the orders. Captain Kirk… Jim, you once trusted me and I am so very sorry for what I did to this crew… I can't explain everything to you sir, but I will bow to your command. With your permission? I will relinquish my given rank and assume the rank I had once earned… Lieutenant Junior, but this mission is of importance to the Alliance"

"I have… read over your orders, I know the importance to the Alliance. Lieutenant? Please take a seat… Miss Rivers? You will given no rank on this ship, you will act in the civilian observer roll only and at my will. But I am warning you, if this some game? I will throw you from the nearest airlock myself. Clear?"

"Clear, Captain Kirk. And thank you. I will serve this ship, her crew and yourself with everything that I have…" The short, strawberry blonde haired woman said as she sat at the end of the long table slowly. "Have you informed your command staff of the current situation Captain Kirk?"

"That is the reason behind this… briefing, Miss Rivers"

"Very well. Lieutenant Uhura, will you please activate the view behind the Captain?"

Turning to face the Captain as if to validate the request, the Captain nodded once before turning to face the view screen embedded in the wall behind him, displaying the standard standby screen with the Crests of the United Earth Alliance and the Galactic Alliance of Worlds side-by-side, the screen changed to an image of a distant star system beyond the frontier of the Galactic Alliance of World's territories while the former officer stood and slowly stepped to the screen as she spoke with a young and soft voice with an apologetic tone whilst giving the report as per her orders from the two governments.

"Sixteen days ago a ship from the Romulan Republic disappeared in the system displayed onto to reappear six days ago, the ship was found dead in space, onboard that ship was a high ranking Romulan Senator and Cousin of the Praetor herself, her favourite Cousin actually and some believe to be next in line for the position once the Praetor's term in office ends in three years. Only one member of the crew remained onboard, the Human representative to our Romulan Allies, Lieutenant Junior Tara Sinclair. She suffered multiple injuries and as such, spent several hours in surgery, Doctor McCoy? I will release the medical files for you to look at shortly along with the reports from the Romulan Doctors…"

"What does this have to do with us Miss Rivers?" Lieutenant Sulu asked with a tone of anger in his voice.

"Forgive me Lieutenant, my orders are clear and I will follow them to the letter, I will get to that shortly. Tara Sinclair finally recovered from her injuries after hours of surgery to save her life and as such submitted her report directly to Republic Command. In the system displayed? The Romulan ship discovered an anomaly in space, loosely put? A hole in space and time was recorded by the vessel's computers, once they where repaired…"

"Repaired?"

"Yes Mister Scott, somehow the Republic Cruiser's computers where… what is the word, Scrambled? It took days to rebuild the database for analysis but what they found in the files was startling… the ship passed into the anomaly and emerged in what could only be called… an alternate reality"

"This is ridiculous!" Lieutenant Sulu called out with laughter.

"No sir, it's not! For every action, or choice that we make a counter is played out in a new reality according to the Multiple Universe theories. The thing is? We have just found a way to explore one such reality where the United Earth Alliance and the Galactic Alliance of Worlds does not exist, in it's place is an authority known as The United Federation of Planets. The reason I am here? I once theorised such a possibility as a part of my graduation thesis at the Academy and as you know I do hold a Doctorate in such theories. Admiral Barker personally pulled me from my incarceration for my crimes to assist in the investigation into this discovery…"

"I personally spoke with the Admiral before I called for this briefing…" Replied the Captain with a sigh. "… Enterprise is the closest and most advanced vessel in the region and our orders are to locate the Romulan crew and return them home. I don't like this anymore than each of you but our orders are clear people, we have little or no idea of what we may face in that reality but there is one thing… that region of space is controlled by this Federation of Planets and as an Earth ship? We maybe more likely to pass through their space without being challenged"

"The Captain is correct, at maximum warp for this ship? We should be within range of that system in sixteen hours. With your permission Captain Kirk? For the moment this is a need to know operation only, keep this one close to your chests. If anyone asks of my presence on the Enterprise? I am merely an observer on this ship as a part of a joint exercise with the Romulan Republic. I will remain either in the Brig or assigned quarters if I am permitted to do so, Lieutenant West will remain as my guard with her agreement. I am not what you think I am people, I have changed and I hope that this assignment will allow me to rebuild my life into something better… Captain Kirk? I will provide you with a list of names of my former contacts within the Raider organisation, with those names you can collapse their organisation"

"Miss Rivers, you sold classified Starfleet and GAW secrets to the Raiders, information which they have used to raid worlds and vessels across the quadrant…" Lieutenant Chekov called out with anger in his voice.

"No sir, I did not… but I am guilty of covering up the sale of those secrets, I took the fall for another and that was not my first crime against both the UEA and GAW of which I have taken full responsibility but what hurts me the most was my actions against this ship and each of you and for that I can only apologise"

"To little, to late Miss Rivers. I want a cross ship departmental readiness report in two hours, dismissed. Lieutenant West? Please escort Miss Rivers to guest quarters for the duration of this assignment and you will remain at her side at all times, never let Miss Rivers out of your sight" The Captain called out as he stood to examine the footage before him.

"Yes Captain. This way Miss Rivers, I believe that you know the way?"

 _Ship Log. Secured Entry._

 _June 4_ _th_ _2269\. (Earth Calendar) Supplemental._

 _Having Former Lieutenant Junior Crystal Rivers onboard this ship is not the most ideal of circumstances for this assignment as her crimes are known by all, although Miss Rivers is correct in one thing, her qualifications in this most unusual field are astonishing. Prior to recording this entry I read her graduation thesis and although I understand only a fraction of the 1'701 page long thesis? Her theory is exemplary and ground-breaking which had earned her a Doctorate in the field which is astonishing for someone of such a young age of 22._

 _Joining the Starfleet Academy at the young age of 14 human years old and graduating three years later, her first assignment was as a researcher at the Hawking Institute of advanced physics until her 18_ _th_ _year when she was of age to serve onboard a Starship. Although I have never seen so many reprimands and complaints about a single officer in one file and with one recorded demotion from Lieutenant Junior to Ensign? Her file is less than perfect._

 _But, I gave her a chance onboard this ship, an officer with her intelligence could have become the youngest Captain in recorded history until her betrayal, but who is she protecting and why? I must discover that truth._

 _Additional Entry, Delayed Recording._

 _The Enterprise is in prime condition and with the activation of the new Warp Propulsion upgrades as created by Mister Scott and his engineering department? Our warp speeds have been increased and most astonishingly? Both shields and weapon systems of the Enterprise have benefited from the new systems by 35.354% I could not be more impressed with my crew._

 _We had no idea what we where about to face in what we had called 'The Federation Reality', our new weapons and shields where about to be tested for the first time as we had not only crossed into another reality, but different point in time… the date? August 23_ _rd_ _2375 and the Federation Reality was at war with a highly powerful and seemingly unstoppable enemy force, known as 'The Dominion'._


	2. Chapter 2

_Star Trek: Mirrors._

 _Chapter Two_

Journeying from one reality to another through the anomaly had rocked the USS Enterprise harshly throwing the crew from their seats to impact the deck hard while sparks flew across the ship, although the damage to the vessel was minimal due to the new configuration of the vessel's protective shields although depleted to 65.02% of full power, the engineering crews and self-regenerating shield grid had instantly sprung into action to repair the damaged systems throughout the large and powerful vessel. Searching for a place to hide the large Enterprise to repair the damaged systems had become a priority for the Captain of the vessel, discovering a small nebula the vessel swiftly moved inside while the crew began repairs which had lasted three hours and twelve minutes before the ship was once again at peak performance. Utilising one piece of technology as given to the Galactic Alliance of Worlds by their Romulan Republic Allies, the USS Enterprise activated their advanced cloaking systems which had permitted the use of weapons and shields to be utilised during combat situations and legal in their own reality by treaty, in situations of combat.

"Status?"

"Unbelievably sir? Fully operational, the journey here was rough on the ship but the auto repair systems have repaired the damage. Warp engines are at full power, shields and weapons are at peak performance and… the cloak is stable"

"Thank you Mister Scott. Uhura, are you picking up anything?"

"I'm working on it Captain, I can't make this out… give me a few minutes please" She replied from her console to the left of the Command Seat.

"Spock?"

"I have accessed what appears to be a Database from this reality's Federation Captain, adjusting our chronometers to match. The date is November 23rd… 2375, Earth Calendar" Spock replied as he turned to face the Captain with a raised eyebrow.

"That's over 100 years into the future. Kirk to Miss Rivers, get up here now!"

"I am already present Captain Kirk" Miss Rivers called out as she entered the Bridge from the portside entrance. "… I assume that you read the full report sir? The time difference is mentioned on page 2'351 of the Republic cruiser's report. This reality is at a state of war with an empire from a distant quadrant, it is all in the report Captain Kirk! An alliance between the Federation, Klingons and Romulans are fighting for their survival against this threat…"

"And you thought not to inform this crew that we are entering a potentially deadly war?" The Captain growled with anger.

"Captain Kirk, it is all in the Republic's reports along with the sighting a and abandoned facility not to far from here known in this reality as Empok-Nor. Lieutenant Sinclair mentioned the Republic ship made it to that station to begin repairs to their ship"

"What happened to the crew from that ship Miss Rivers?" Kirk demanded instantly.

"No one knows sir, and that is the truth! If I may Captain? Mister Sulu… alter course to 105.005, best possible speeds. You'll find the facility abandoned, a large ring like structure with three docking arms above and below in a curved formation inwards. We have little to go on Captain Kirk… but perhaps we can find some evidence of the fate of the Romulan crew there?"

"Mister Sulu, set course for the facility… best possible speeds. Spock? Keep your eyes on the sensors, if you see any ship in the area? I want to be the first to know about it"

 _Captain's Log:_

 _Stardate: 52576.6_

 _Lieutenant Commander Worf recording._

 _USS Defiant on patrol of the Trivas System after intelligence reports of an unknown vessel in the region believed to be of Romulan origin and of an unknown configuration._

Operating so close to the Cardassian Union, a recent member of the powerful and deadly Dominion, alone was not a perfect situation for the crew of the USS Defiant, Starfleet's first and almost legendary Prototype Warship. Patrolling the region under the orders of Captain Benjamin Sisko and Admiral William Ross, Commander Worf, Starfleet's first Klingon graduate had developed a name for himself within the Federation and their allies as a brilliant Commander although often brutal when it came to combat between starships as noted numerous times by his crew when in command due to his Klingon heritage. Patrolling close to the abandoned Nor Class Station, a mirrored design of Deep Space Nine, the course of the ship had been swiftly altered to investigate the station itself after claims by a passing ship had witnessed a large and unknown vessel docked at the station for several hours before leaving the station at high warp whilst pursued by several Dominion fighters.

"Mister Worf, approaching Empok Nor"

"Take us out of warp Ensign Nog" Replied the Klingon to the young Ferengi helm officer of the ship.

"Lieutenant Williams, maintain full sensor readings of the area, I don't wish to be ambushed by a Dominion fleet this close to Dominion territories"

"Aye sir" Replied a young female Ensign. "Um Commander? Sensors are detecting life signs on the station, seven humans… but there are no ships docked at the station"

"Move us within transporter range, I will lead the away mission myself, with a team of five. Lieutenant Calhoun, assume Command of the Defiant until my return"

"Aye sir. Commander, although the station is of similar design to DS9, Mister Nog has been onboard that station twice, he is familiar with the facility?" Replied the middle-aged human male.

"Very well, Ensign?"

Hidden behind their cloaking shields, the USS Enterprise instantly detected the arrival of a small yet powerful starship at the station, a vessel of unknown design and purpose. With a team onboard the station as led by Captain Kirk himself and Miss Rivers as the observer, the Enterprise had instantly recorded a transport of five people to the station, four humans, one Klingon and one alien of unknown origin. Under orders, the search teams had gathered together to maintain a watchful eye on the mysterious new arrivals while the large and powerful USS Enterprise quietly moved into position above and behind the much smaller vessel.

"Is this apart of your plan Miss Rivers?" Kirk whispered as he watched a large Klingon male lead the small team through a corridor in the outer ring.

"No sir. I don't recognise them… the Klingon appears to be the commander, I have no idea what that short alien is, but their weapons and uniforms appear to be almost Starfleet"

"How can you be sure?"

"Simple Captain, look at the emblem on their chests? It's similar to our Starfleet. The jamming signal won't last long on their Tricorders, if that's what they are. We know nothing about this reality…"

"Captain, their ship might have detected our life-signs" Replied Lieutenant West as she quietly stepped to their side.

"Kirk to Enterprise, status of the unknown vessel?"

"Holding position close to the station Captain. The vessel boasts an impressive array of weapons, I am searching the database we have downloaded for an identification of the ship… the ship is registered as the USS Defiant NX-74205, officially designated as an Escort Class vessel, assigned to a facility known as Deep Space Nine, a Federation Starbase"

"Mister Spock, I'm seeing a Klingon in what we think is a Starfleet Uniform along with an alien species we've never seen before. Short with large ears… the Klingon appears to be in command of this team"

"One Moment Miss Rivers, a Lieutenant Commander Worf, current assignment, Deep Space Nine. Your description of the unknown alien resembles an Ensign Nog from a species known as Ferengi" Replied the Vulcan officer over the quietened com-link.

"Sir? I'm in Civilian clothing not your uniforms, let me speak with them? Perhaps they know what has happed to the Republic cruiser?" Miss Rivers asked politely with a whisper.

"You're not going alone, Lieutenant West? Remove your jacket and stay at her side at all times. Klingons maybe allies in this reality but in our own? They are still the enemy"

"Aye sir" Lieutenant West replied slowly.

"Helen, switch your top with me? You look like your in a uniform even without the jacket"

Slowly making their way down one of the large spiral staircases towards the lower level of the large curved shaped corridor, Crystal Rivers and Helen West stepped onto the lower level with their hands raised as they stepped towards the approaching Starfleet officers.

"Easy, easy? We're not armed. Please lower your weapons?"

"Who are you?"

"My name is Crystal Rivers and this is my friend Helen West, we're not here to harm anyone… we're just looking for some friends. As you can see Mister Klingon? I am carrying no weapons and neither is my friend" Crystal replied as she raised her black shirt and turned slowly 180 degrees before facing the officers.

"Where are the rest of your people Miss Rivers?"

"Observing. You realise that if we meant you any harm, you'd already be dead right? You all walked into a bottle neck and contained here… we're not your enemy" Lieutenant West said slowly.

"How did you get here?"

"Our vessel is close sir. We are looking for a ship which was last recorded in this area before all but one member of the crew vanished, the ship barely made it home in one piece and the only survivor was half dead"

"Commander? The unknown vessel reported in this region" The Ferengi Ensign replied as he lowered his rifle-like weapon slowly.

"Correct, Ensign Nog. Our assignment is to find that crew and return them home, where we belong. No doubt you have numerous questions sirs? This may take some time to explain… I am Doctor Crystal Rivers and my lovely companion at my side is Lieutenant Helen West"

"You're Starfleet?"

"Not… quiet as you may know it Commander Worf, please feel free to scan me? You may notice something… unusual"

"Sir, take a look?" Replied a young female officer wearing a similar style of uniform yet with a blue under shirt. "I can't be sure, but I think I am detecting a temporal signature and their… quantum signature? Is out of alignment by .002"

"That's impossible!" Ensign Nog called out instantly.

"No Ensign, it is not. This is not the best of places to discuss such a conversation considering the current hostilities in this region. Is there someplace that we can speak with your superiors? I give you my word that we are not hostile, we're just here to find our people and return them home, safely"

 _Station Log_

 _Stardate: 52577.6_

 _Delayed Recording_

 _The USS Defiant has returned to the station while escorting a cloaked vessel claiming to be from an alternate reality. Since I have assumed command of Deep Space Nine, I have had several experiences with an alternate reality but nothing had prepared me for what I was about to see onboard of that cloaked vessel, and who was in command._

Returning to the Assigned base of operations for the USS Defiant, the full extent of the struggle for the Alpha and Beta Quadrants was finally revealed to the crew of the vessel from another time and another reality, a vast fleet of Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships orbited a space station of almost identical design and construction as the station they had left hours ago. Having secretly downloaded a large portion of the Federation's Database for analysis, Doctor Rivers had begun to assist Commander Spock with the analysis due to her speciality in the Multiple Reality theories.

"This is amazing Commander, it seems that your Vulcan brothers encountered Earth in the mid 2060's and eventually forging an alliance with the Humans. That never happened back home… Doctor Cochrane's warp ship was not ready at the time…"

"Fascinating"

"All because one piece of technology was flawed, they had to replace… a simple door lock after which? Bad weather delayed the first launch and test. It says here that a Vulcan detected the warp signature and made official first contact. Remarkable!" She said with a large smile.

"Your orders are not to concentrate on the historical texts of this reality Doctor Rivers, but the current situation"

"You can't blame a girl for trying Spock? Just a theory, Computer… display any file on Doctor Crystal Rivers, use my own file and DNA signature as a template. Did I exist anywhere in this reality?"

"No stated file has been found in the Federation Archives" Replied the computer.

"Fascinating, is it possible that I never existed here?"

"Doctor Rivers, your orders are clear!" Spock replied once again.

"Of course, forgive me? It seems that this reality has had it's share of wars. This war with the Dominion? Has cost countless lives so far" She replied as she looked at a second screen. "There is no mention of a ship matching the Republic cruiser in these files. But? You might find this interesting Mister Spock? Your counterpart here is still alive… he is the Federation Ambassador to the Romulan Empire. My god, he had one hell of a Starfleet Career. First Officer of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 and later the 1701-A under Captain James _Tiberius_ Kirk?… Oh my god! I need to speak with the Captain right away"

Studying the new Federation Reality in the large science lab as directly under the command of Commander Spock and his department, Doctor Rivers left the screen active as she stood and ran from the room while the First Officer turned towards the screen she was reading before following her from the room towards the bridge. Bursting into the large command center of the ship with her guard at her side, her words seemed to be almost a jumbled mess as she spoke at high speeds while gasping for breath.

"Calm down, Miss Rivers and start again"

"If I may Captain? You can't meet with the Federation Captain and Admiral, none of you can at the moment"

"What are you talking about Miss Rivers?" Kirk replied slowly.

"Sir, your counterpart in this reality is considered as a legend here, many officers aspire to be like Captain James _Tiberius_ Kirk, considered as an almost Prototype of what a Starship Commander should be… each of your command crew here is as highly regarded, as you all revere Captain Archer and his crew in our reality. The mere mention of his name is an honoured one amongst their Federation and both revered and hated in the Klingon and Romulan Empires here…"

"Tiberius, my grandfather always hated that name. He changed it to Tobias when he joined the Academy" Kirk said with a frown.

"I know sir. Believe it or not? I am familiar with your file. The balance of the alliance against the Dominion here is young and fragile, not that long ago? The Klingons and Federation where at war and the revered James Kirk, even you sir! May alter that balance. We need the help of these people to locate the crew of that ship"

"Mister Scott, how long can we sustain the cloak before it fails?"

"Roughly five hours Jim, it's beginning to overheat from the strain as it is…" The Scottish Engineer replied quickly from the Engineering slave station on the bridge.

"Miss Rivers, Doctor Rivers? I understand your plea here, but the situation requires my attention. Lieutenant West? Please escort the Doctor transporter room one to meet with our… guests and escort them to the observation lounge behind the bridge"

"Yes Captain, this way Doctor" The Lieutenant replied with a nod.

"Kirk, you're making a mistake here"

"I am not him, Doctor Rivers… my assignment is clear. May I remind you that you are here at my discretion only? And I will only tolerate your outbursts so far, before I confine you to the brig for the duration of this assignment"

 _Orders, I hate orders! Both giving and receiving, perhaps that is one of the reasons why I did what I did and why I left the Starfleet in my reality? My crimes against the Galactic Alliance of Worlds are numerous, but I have never sold classified information to another power although I am guilty of a cover-up, for the true criminal in that case and when my ultimate judgment arrives? I will accept that judgment with pride._

 _But I believed and still believe that Captain James Tobias Kirk was making a large mistake by meeting with the Federation Officers, his mere presence was a disruption to the delicate negotiations. Although our Enterprise was considered to be vastly superior to the Federation vessels, even of that era? We had agreed that we had needed their help in locating the crew of the Republic vessel, although we held back the connection between the crew and the Romulan leader._

Materialising on the transporter platform of the ship out of time and her own reality, four officers stepped from the platform while an honour guard stood present to greet the Admiral. Wearing their dress uniform for the occasion, Doctor Crystal Rivers finally stepped forwards wearing civilian clothing to shake the hand of the Admiral before turning to shake the hand of each of the officers before her, including Lieutenant Commander Worf.

"Admiral Ross, Captain Sisko, Chief Petty Officer O'Brian, Lieutenant Commander Worf. A pleasure sirs. I am Doctor Crystal Rivers, this is Lieutenant Helen West, Lieutenant William Harkin and Petty Officer Jonas Wallaby. On behalf of the United Earth Alliance and the Galactic Alliance of Worlds, welcome aboard. The Captain has requested a meeting in the Observation lounge behind the bridge, if you will follow me gentlemen. Mister Worf, please forgive the crew as where we come from? The Klingon Empire is not entirely a friendly state"

"Very well" Worf said with a polite nod.

"Amazing vessel. You are cloaked?"

"The Cloaking shields are a standard feature on all Alliance vessels Mister O'Brian. During our time here? We have had to utilise the said technology almost beyond the design limits and as such our time is short sirs, if the cloak fails and your enemies see this ship? They will hunt her down and we can not allow this vessel nor her technologies to fall into the hands of your enemies. This way gentlemen?"

"How large is this vessel Miss Rivers?" The Admiral asked politely.

"With respect for your rank Admiral Ross? That is classified information until the Captain chooses to release said information" Replied Lieutenant West, with a polite bow. "Suffice to say that this ship is not the largest in our fleet…"

"Nor, the most advanced" Replied Chief Petty Officer Wallaby with a strong Australian accent. "But she can still kick ass when needed. I must admit though, your Defiant is impressive for her size"

"And as Classified!" Captain Sisko replied with a polite nod.

"Of course Captain. If you will excuse me gentlemen, ladies? I have to get out of this Dress Uniform and report for duty. A pleasure gentlemen"

Far from the elegant design of the standard duty uniforms, the dress uniforms as worn by those from the mirror Enterprise appeared as a white suit with a white peaked cap and black tie, reminiscent of late 20th and early 21st century military dress uniforms each displaying the ribbons of the medals and citations as awarded to the officers and enlisted along with the rank emblems and symbol of the United Earth Alliance's Starfleet worn beneath the ribbons. Turning in military fashion after saluting the officers, the Petty Officer walked down the corridor to disappear into a corridor to the left. Led by the Doctor and Lieutenant West towards a highly secured door, the Doctor turned slowly to face the Federation Officers and spoke with a whisper in her voice.

"Gentlemen, this is the entrance to the Observation Lounge above and behind the bridge. Inside are the Captain and the Command Staff as requested. I have had a chance to look over your database I had downloaded without your knowledge before we discovered your team Mister Worf. Standard procedure for our Starfleet, you can relax it was nothing classified. The anomaly which had brought us here was only across the boundaries of realities, but through time itself, over 100 years into the future, from our point of view. From what I have seen of the database I read on the counterparts of this crew? I have no doubt that you will all instantly recognise the Captain and Command crew. For the record? I was against this meeting however? The Captain believes that you can help us to locate our missing comrades"

"Very well Doctor Rivers" The Admiral replied with an almost anger appearing in his voice.

"Admiral William Ross, Captain Benjamin Sisko, Lieutenant Commander Worf and Chief Petty Officer Miles O'Brian…" The Doctor Replied as they stepped into the room. "… This is Captain James T…"

"Kirk?" Sisko replied with a slight smile.

"A pleasure gentlemen. Please, take a seat… we have much to discuss"


	3. Chapter 3

_Star Trek: Mirrors._

 _Chapter Three_

Located on Deck two, inside of the ship with a triple armoured hull around the command center of the ship, the large bridge of the ship was one of the most advanced pieces of technologies known to the United Earth Alliance which had almost emulated the designs of earlier vessels with the exception of the additional bridge access to port, along with an access via a small stairway to the observation lounge above the bridge which had looked out over the rear of the ship towards the quad-design warp nacelles although from the prospective of the four visitors from the Federation Starbase, all they saw was empty space along with a hint of Deep Space Nine and her protective fleet of vessels from three of the major powers in the quadrants. Sat facing the mirror of the legendary Captain Kirk himself, the Admiral seemed to look at him in awe as the Captain slowly explained their assignment to the Federation Officers.

"Captain Kirk, I must ask. Do you normally carry a civilian onboard your ship, let alone a Civilian who seems to be giving orders?"

"We do not Admiral Ross, Doctor Rivers is a… specialist in such matters"

"I'm a floater Admiral. I was once a Starfleet Officer under the command of the Captain, but my career took a… different path. I am a civilian observer on this ship only. As the Captain has explained Admiral, we need to find those from the Republic. We know of your conflict with the power known as Dominion and your… fragile alliances with two of the main powers in the region. How do I put this openly? This ship is capable of destroying your station with little or no effort, we could have simply taken what we wanted without you even knowing but Captain Kirk, requested your assistance against my advice. Within hours, this ship will loose it's cloak and when that happens? We will be revealed to your alliance in full and we have no doubt that your fragile allies will demand an explanation to our presence. From what we can see of your fleet around your facility, we will appear as a new class of ship similar to the large ship, third highest to the left"

"The USS Sovereign?" O'Brian replied without looking out of the window.

"Beautiful name for an elegant vessel. However, this ship will appear as an advanced upgrade of that design… with the discovery of this vessel and her command crew, can you imagine what will happen when they see Captain Kirk, our Kirk and his crew?"

"What do you need" Captain Sisko replied quickly.

"If our people have been somehow captured by your Dominion forces whom had falsely identified them as Romulan citizens, where would they take them sir?"

"Unknown. The Dominion rarely takes prisoners. If they captured your people, then I have no doubt that they have been executed" Commander Worf replied instantly.

"I won't believe that Commander! This goes no further than this room. Onboard that Republic vessel was a single person of vast importance to the GAW, back home. The cousin of the Praetor of Romulus herself and marked to replace her, once her term in office expires. The Romulans are our closest and perhaps our oldest of allies. We are not leaving here until we find them…" Kirk replied instantly. "I will personally rip apart this galaxy with this ship to locate them if needed"

"The Federation will stop you Captain Kirk!" The Admiral replied instantly.

"Good Luck Admiral. There is enough firepower on this ship to destroy an entire world if needed and one word from me, sent back home? An entire fleet of Alliance vessels will swarm this reality. I know the capabilities of your ships Admiral, it will be a war that you can not win as the Alliance in my reality spans the galaxy with thousands of worlds and hundreds of thousands of vessels. In over 100 years of the alliance, no enemy force has ever challenged the Alliance, or Earth"

"But we would… rather work with you Admiral" Doctor Rivers continued, slowly. "… And not against you, there must be something, some rumour. You came looking for us at that abandoned station, you knew of the Republic ship from what I can tell… and if there are Federation prisoners at that facility? We'll bring them home for you and you will have complete deniability of our actions"

"Allow me to speak with Command"

"Our time is running short, Admiral Ross. We must leave this region soon and find a place to allow our cloak to cool and repair itself, if you are the Commanding officer in this region? Help us to help you" James Kirk replied instantly. "Computer. Transport the Federation Officers back to their facility"

 _Starship Log:_

 _Secured Entry._

 _I have almost declared war on this reality with my actions and my words, but I have come to accept that Doctor Rivers is correct in her assessment, I have considered myself as an unstable element in this situation. Our time hidden beneath the cloaking shields has expired although I was able to place the Enterprise inside of the upper clouds of a small gas giant in order to hide the ship and to repair the cloak._

 _However, a most unusual turn of events has presented itself before me as Doctor Rivers seemed to be impressed with my handling of the situation and my hollow threats against the Federation. The Alliance is not as powerful as I boasted although a Federation Starship is now holding position on the outer rim of the gas giant, seemingly waiting for us to reappear, a vessel dispatched from a nearby Starbase with a formidable weapons array named the USS Prometheus._

Word had finally reached the hidden vessel of a facility where a large group of prisoners of war were being held by the Dominion, a small world deep inside of Dominion held territory, a dark and twisted world with little sun-light on the frozen wastelands of a dilithium mine. Beaten and forced to work the mines for the valuable dilithium ore to regulate the power of the Dominion vessels, the exhausted prisoners of war had barely slept nor eaten for seemingly days at a time. Pushing a large and heavy cart filled with the valuable ore up a large and rugged hillside in the frozen wastelands of the hellish world, a single Officer from the Republic cruiser began to loose his grip on the cart before two exhausted Romulan officers stepped to his side to assist with the heavy load as they spoke in the Romulan standard language.

"I have observed the guards for many days, they need no sleep nor food, yet they are reliant on a drug which they must take a regular intervals. The humans here are nothing like the humans from our side, but they are willing to join us… we out-number the guards by forty to one"

"And the Klingons?" Whispered the exhausted first prisoner.

"They are willing to assist, their code of honour demands it of them. You are our greatest military leader Admiral and the reason why _HER_ Cousin assigned you as her personal guard. With your assistance? We can overtake these creatures and free ourselves… everyone is with you, even the Klingons"

"The Klingons have never been trustworthy, you know that Commander"

"I do sir, but we have their assistance and they are all eager to fight! The Alliance does not exist here and we have no idea where our vessel is… have you seen Lieutenant Sinclair?" The exhausted male Romulan whispered.

"I have not, but she is a resilient officer and I have little doubt that she has gone for help"

"Admiral, we can not wait for her! I caught a glimpse of the stars when they brought me here, I know where we are, a Human told me that there is a landing platform not to far from here with a few ships. There are 1'246 prisoners in here, we can take them, all of them. The first duty of a prisoner is to escape Admiral, you taught me that!"

"Very well, when?"

"We need to locate T'Rian within several days, we can't hold the Klingons back any longer"

Once every 20 hours, the prisoners of war had been permitted only four hours of sleep by the Jem'Hadar guards during which time they where expected to eat in order to gather their strength for the long and gruelling hours of work in the mines which had taken its toll on many of the prisoners, finding ways to hide their rations in their clothing in order to span out the nourishment needed to maintain their strength, many had died from exhaustion or hunger and left for days where they fell as a warning to the remaining prisoners before their bodies where finally removed or vaporised by the weapons of the guards. Collapsing onto the dirt covered ground he had claimed as his own, the honoured Admiral of the Romulan Republic Guard had ignored the pains of hunger in his stomach to simply fall asleep before for the few short hours he had been permitted before returning to the constant pain of the labour.

A quarter deck behind and below the bridge and directly below the observation lounge was a large room filled with computer screens, consoles and in the center of the room known as ' _The Situation Room_ ' stood a large table with a single full length computer console which had often been used to display a computer generated map of the Alliance or a close up view of a target star system and even to display orders when needed. Normally utilising the room as the unofficial office of the Captain, rather than the small and cramped Ready-Room off to the right of the bridge which the Captain had primarily utilised as quarters when on long shifts, the Captain paced around the table whilst the screen continued to change it's view by flipping from left to right with his movements as he studied the limited intelligence files they had taken from the Federation database of Deep Space Nine upon their arrival, before being locked out by the station's computer. Running his fingers through his short blonde hair with a deep sigh, he turned to the only other person in the room, his most trusted of advisors, long time friend and First Officer, seemingly speaking without a word.

"I have continued to review the databases Captain, so far I have little information to give on the possible location of the Republic crew. If I may Captain? It is my belief that it was a mistake to threaten the Federation Officers"

"It was my call Commander, we know nothing about this Federation and their plans. I saw the greed in the eyes of the Admiral when he saw this ship. Our level of technology is decades beyond their own and from what I can see? They are loosing this war. There must be something that we can use, recheck the database…"

"Captain. I have studied their database three times and each time I have arrived at the same empty conclusions. However, I have also been studying the anomaly and it may be possible to collapse the anomaly from this side although, it may cause significant damage to this vessel" Replied the Commander slowly.

Turning slowly at the sounds of the door sliding open with a mechanical hiss, the Captain nodded slightly at the sight of Lieutenants Uhura and West enter the situation room with Doctor Rivers at their side as the communications officer spoke softly.

"Forgive the intrusion Captain, Commander? I have intercepted a transmission from the Federation Station to the vessel above us… they are claiming that there maybe a way to locate the republic crew. Six months ago, a man escaped what he had claimed to be a Dominion Prison, deep inside of their territory. His last known location was…"

"Here!" Lieutenant West replied as she accessed the table computer to display the system. "At high warp? We can be there in three hours"

"With that Federation ship above? I doubt that they will permit us to leave anytime soon and the instant that we cloak…"

"They'll be on top of us, I know" Lieutenant West replied instantly.

"I know that system sir, in our reality anyway. It is a hub of criminal activities, basically you can get anything that you want, at the right price. Ships, weapons, technologies… even slaves. It is a hive for people who don't want to be found, I spent some time there while running from you sir. The second planet, is owned by a humanoid male, an El Aurian. A species that lives for hundreds if not thousands of years, my studies of this reality have identified that our timelines where identical until Cochrane's first Warp Flight… which took place one month earlier here, Commander Spock has read that file sir…"

"I have and I agree with the Doctor's assessment Captain"

"Captain, James? The El Aurian purchased his world in the 20th century, Earth calendar as a base for his criminal activities, it is likely that it is the same here" Rivers said as she looked down at the table computer.

"You think that this… prisoner escaped to this system? I have never seen this system before Doctor"

"You wouldn't Captain. It was removed from all Alliance databases, I don't know how or by whom. But the description matches this system. This ship, is equipped with two cloaking generators working in tandem as one powerful system, I suggest that we separate the ship Captain. If we do this right? All the Federation ship will see will be the Alpha Module, the upper half of the ship, with a skeleton crew? We can man the Beta Module, cloak and break orbit before they know what has happened"

"And whom would command the Beta Module Doctor, you?" Kirk said with almost anger in his voice.

"I am… not a Starship Captain sir, but I am a criminal as we all know. This is your ship Captain and always has been, Commander Spock can delay the Federation for several hours by claiming that our systems are not yet operational, it is not a lie it is a fact… but you will need a pilot sir. I once served at Second seat at Helm, I am a good pilot James"

"Kirk to all hands, evacuate the Beta Module, prepare for separation sequence. Delta shift, report to the Beta Module" Kirk ordered with a nod.

Nothing more than the lower third of the vast Enterprise powered by two of the four warp nacelles, the Beta Module of the vessel detached before cloaking once clear from the Alpha Module of the Enterprise, considered by many as the battle section of the entire ship with the majority of the powerful torpedoes and phasers, the separate module was less than a third of the size of the entire vessel although considered as more agile in combat situations when released from the vessel itself. Taking his seat in the small and compact bridge of the Beta Module which contained the bare essentials of the ships operations and considered as the most secured area of his vessel, the captain had barely enough room to swing out his legs before kicking the back of the pilot's seat or even stretch out his arms before touching the consoles to his left and right.

"We are clear and free to navigate. Cloak is operational and engaged, secondary deflector is on-line and operational, weapons and shields on standby"

"Take us out, Doctor Rivers" Kirk replied with an uncomfortable tone in his voice.

"Course set… West, status of that Federation ship?"

"Holding position, they don't see us"

"Captain, they may detect us if we go to warp this close. This cloak is not designed to work alone for such a long time, we'll have to transfer power to weapons and shields and that will shut down the cloak" Called out an Engineer from behind the Captain.

"That will leave us vulnerable for 1.5 seconds Captain, no one will get off a shot in that time"

"Very well Doctor Rivers. Let's get this over with before I change my mind. Warp speed!"

"Aye Captain. Warp engines responding… pushing slowly to maximum warp… 8.5"

A world barely known by many, yet used as a hiding place by those not wanting to be discovered by many authorities across the known galaxy and filled with the refuse of those same species had recently become a hive of activity for many attempting to flee the war between the great powers of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants and the Dominion, the deadly Gamma Quadrant power and their Cardassian allies. Known to few as a place where anything could be acquired for the right price, including passage away from the death and destruction, a black market for passage had emerged at such a high price that payment had meant an almost lifetime of slavery for those unlucky enough not to be able to afford the high price of the transport. Separating families, often husbands and fathers from their own wives and children as a payment for passage, many had yet to reunite with their families in order to work off their debt to their creditors. Slowly moving through the dirt covered streets of the foul smelling spaceport, the pain and suffering of those around had not been lost on the small team of four from the Beta Module of the Enterprise as many seemed to be starving from hunger.

"The Federation doesn't know about this?" Kirk whispered beneath his long black coat and hood.

"I doubt it! This is… horrible. Look at these people, they are starving and terrified"

"Remember the assignment Rivers?"

"I know. It's nothing like this back home. The last time I was here? It was… different. This can not happen back home James, promise me that you won't let this happen?" She said with tears in her eyes as she froze at the sight of a young starving woman.

"It will never happen" Kirk replied as the young woman screamed as three alien males grabbed her. "Rivers, you can't interfere…"

"She looks so much like my Cousin, Clarissa…"

Wearing a long black cloak and hood as not to be identified as James Tiberius Kirk, his counterpart from the Federation reality, his hand instantly grabbed the Doctor's arm before she turned with a darkness in her eyes before shaking off his hand to walk towards the three alien males as the young human female screamed in fear.

"Let her go!"

"Wait your turn, Human!" One of the alien males grunted, instantly.

"You have two choices, you can either leave her alone, or I will make you"

"One of you and three of us? Perhaps we shall have our fun with you first?"

"Sorry, but you're not my type. Besides, all I have do is to take down you, you're the mouth-piece here. One of you will stand up and try to fight and the other? Will simply run away. Now, who will run?"

A moment of silence passed while the three from the alternate Enterprise stood with their hand on their weapons, the young Doctor, a trained United Earth Alliance officer turned instantly to kick the left knee of the first alien and using his injured leg as a brace, she leapt into the air to punch hard into his jaw, the moment her feet touched the dirt covered ground, her left leg swept those of the second before quickly drawing a blade from her jacket to hold to the first alien's throat as she glared at the third man as he stood ready.

"I guess, now we know who is second" She laughed as she punched the first alien hard once, twice and a third time before he bowed politely and stepped backwards. "You're so damned lucky I am not in a bad mood"

"Whatever you want, just let my sibling go?" The Third alien cried out instantly.

"I am looking for someone, a short human male with black hair, half balding…"

"I know of the Human that you speak!" The terrified first alien said instantly.

"Okay, talk!"

"The blade?" He complained as the blade began to cut slowly deeper into his own throat.

"Consider your life as payment. Where is he?"

Following the alien's hand as he pointed towards a short and balding human male as he began to run, Rivers whipped the blade from his throat to spin once in her hand before throwing the blade towards the human male as he ran while those around him stepped back instantly. Spinning through the air, a thud echoed around them as the hilt of the knife impacted upon his head before he fell into the cold and wet filth which covered the streets.

"Thank you. Oh, if I see you around here again? Or hear of you or any of you attacking anyone? I will finish what I have started. I will kill you! Get the hell out of my sight"

Instantly standing as she walked towards the man as he lay face down in a puddle of filth, her arm reached down to push his face into the puddle hard while he tried to struggle as the Doctor pushed her knee between his shoulder blades and held his head for two seconds before lifting his head out of the dirt filled water.

"I don't know anything, please… I am just trying to…"

"Wrong answer!" She cried out as she pushed his face back into the water, while the Enterprise Officers ran to her side.

"Let him go!"

"Relax, I know what I am doing?"

"Let him go!" Kirk replied as he pushed his phaser into the back of her head.

"Are you ready to talk now?" Rivers said with a smile, as she pulled his face out of the water.

"What do you want, who are you?"

"Someone looking for answers to questions that you are going to give…"

"Wait please, don't harm him?" Called out the young woman as she stepped to his side. "His is my brother, you protected me now please, don't harm him?"

"Get up!" Rivers called out, as she stepped backwards slowly.

Arriving onboard the Beta Section of the Enterprise with the two civilians at their side, the away team of the Enterprise stepped from the transporter platform while the two stood huddled together in fear of those stood before them wearing civilian clothing. Stepping towards the woman with her hand held out and a smile upon her face, Lieutenant West nodded slowly while their eyes scanned their new surroundings instantly as they stepped down from the platform.

"This. This is a Starfleet ship?" The man asked slowly, as he stepped towards the lieutenant.

"That's hard to explain. My name is Helen West, please forgive my friend's actions?"

"I was acting on instinct only, that planet has brought back some bad memories for me. I am… Crystal Rivers, my parents had a sense of humour when naming me. You are safe here, both of you… but we need your help sir. Lieutenant George Kramer, listed as… a prisoner of war of the Dominion. Rumour has it, that you escaped their prison camp?"

"I have no idea what…"

"Some friends of ours are being held in that same prison camp. We are not affiliated with your Starfleet in anyway. Please sir, this is important…" Doctor Rivers said slowly, as Kirk stood behind her. "… Did you know of or hear of any Romulan prisoners?"

"You are Starfleet!" The woman cried out instantly.

"I will not go back to that hell hole! Nothing can take me back there, not even the hand of god himself!"

"Screw it!" Rivers said instantly. "The Romulan prisoners don't belong here anymore than this ship does… their ship, fell an anomaly and it was dragged here from our reality and we are here to return them home. The man stood behind me, very close by the way? Is the counterpart from our reality of a man you know well…"

Turning instantly, she pulled the hood from his head as the two siblings stood in shock at the face of the man before them, a legend in their own reality known across the Federation and beyond.

"We have travelled through time and across the boundaries of realities in order to find them and return them home, you know this man?"

"I-I…" The woman said slowly.

"I know, I have read the file. But I am not the James Kirk that you know…"

"Please help us? Where we come from? The Dominion has no idea of the Wormhole in the Bajor system. Help us to recover our people who do not belong here before the Dominion find out about us and brings their war to our side?"


	4. Chapter 4

_Star Trek: Mirrors._

 _Chapter Four_

Federation Station Deep Space Nine, an old Cardassian station at the mouth of the Bajoran Wormhole and command center for the sector in the war against the Dominion itself, once orbiting the planet of Bajor and moved to the mouth of the strategically important access to the Gamma Quadrant by the Starfleet crew almost seven years earlier and home to both military and civilians alike, rumours had begun to travel around the station as to the arrival of a highly advanced vessel from an unknown power, a vessel which remains hidden somewhere in the Bajoran system and protected by a vessel from Starfleet, rumours ranging from a new class of Starfleet ship with highly advanced weaponry, designed and built in secret and manned with a specialist crew to a more unusual theory of Starfleet capturing a ship which had been sent from the distant future and everything in between. Few of the officers of Deep Space Nine, with the exception of the Command Staff and those directly involved with the vessel itself had known the truth about the unusual vessel, although the name of the vessel had yet to be discovered.

Calling for a highly classified meeting of his most trusted staff in his own quarters, the Captain and Admiral had continued to analyse what little information that had been acquired by their own sensors and the sensors onboard the USS Prometheus which had been assigned to monitor the as of yet, unknown vessel.

"One thing is clear Captain, that ship is an unstable element in a dangerous situation"

"Captain, Kira is right in her assessment. We have no idea what we are dealing with, they maybe Starfleet and we know that they are of Human origin. But, we can't allow or feelings towards their counterparts in this universe to guide our actions"

"Captain, I agree with Lieutenant Dax" General Martok replied with an almost smile upon his face. "There are those within the Empire who would still relish the chance to face in battle against James Kirk, his name is both honoured and despised in the Empire even today"

"When I met that Captain Kirk? He is nothing like the man I read about at the Academy" Sisko replied.

"Agreed!" O'Brian said with an almost smile. "His confidence in his vessel and his crew are the same, but there is something behind his eyes that I can't place and the same with many of his crew, although Spock is still Spock. It's this Doctor Rivers that I don't trust, I get the feeling that she is holding something back"

"Sirs? I managed to slip in a small tricorder when onboard their ship. The scans it took of their vessel are incredible"

"How did you do that without their knowledge, Ensign Nog?" The Admiral replied with a growing smile.

"I maybe a Starfleet Officer, but I am still a Ferengi, Admiral and we have our ways. I was able to project a size of their ship as roughly the same length as a Sovereign class and possibly the same in height and technologically? That ship is as advanced as any in our Starfleet, maybe even more so sirs"

"Officer thinking Ensign" The Captain replied with a proud smile. "Anything else?"

"From what I can tell? The crew is primarily Human, with the exception of Commander Spock, but I believe that he is half Romulan, not half Human"

"Intriguing twist" Miles O'Brian replied with a smile.

"Their reality evolved different than our own Miles" Doctor Bashir replied, after remaining silent.

"I once met Captain Scott, when he was rescued by the Enterprise-D from the Dyson Sphere? He was one of the reasons why I became an Engineer" O'Brian replied with a fond smile.

"What of this, Doctor Rivers. Did your scans of her reveal anything Ensign?"

"Yes sir, they did and I was getting to that. She is not entirely Human, from what Doctor Bashir had said after reviewing the scans of her…?"

"She is ¼ Betazoid, Captain from her maternal grandmother along with other species that I have yet to identify without a more in depth medical scan, I doubt that she even has any of their abilities"

"Interesting, and that may explain a few things. Mister Worf detected a covert download of our Federation database, before we stopped the download? We where able to duplicate a few of their files. Doctor Crystal Rivers, formally a Starfleet Officer. Charged with numerous crimes against their Alliance and sentenced to thirty years of confinement, crimes ranging from selling classified information and technologies to several assaults of superior officers" The Captain replied with a smirk on his face.

"Where is their ship now?"

"Still holding position at the edge of the gas giant Admiral, reports from the Prometheus claim that she has not moved in five hours. The USS Cyclops is moving to investigate their claims of the anomaly, they should be in range by now"

"Contact the… hidden vessel, I want to speak directly with her Captain. Something doesn't feel right"

Repairs to the vessel hidden in the clouds had been completed as the now limited cloaking shields of the ship where finally complete. Appearing as a more smooth and flattened ventral side of the ship, rather than a smooth rounder construction with four warp nacelles, rather than the twin nacelles of the new appearance. The Enterprise was still considered as a formidable weapons platform even with the removal of the Beta Module, considered as the warship section of the vast ship as much of the torpedo launchers of the ship remained on the lower section of the vessel, leaving only the twin upper launchers for the main section, although the primary navigational deflector remained on the Alpha Module, with a secondary deflector attached to the lower section of the vessel? Her maximum speed could almost exceed the federation starship above.

"Commander Spock? I am receiving a message from the Beta Module, it is Captain Kirk"

"Onscreen, Lieutenant" Spock called out as he stood from the central seat on the bridge.

"Onscreen now sir"

"Spock, we've located what appears to be a P.O.W Camp, I'm sending you the co-ordinates. Get here as soon as you can, we could use the weapons on the Alpha Module"

"Receiving co-ordinates" Chekov called out from the Science Station. "Keptin? It would take eight hours to reach that location from our current position. And with the Federation ship above us? It maybe a problem"

"Do whatever you can, but get here. We are in orbit of the planet now, there are thousands down there and we can't take them all… I don't want the Federation involved in this, they have enough problems"

"Mister Spock? I am picking up a signal from Deep Space Nine, Captain Sisko is demanding to speak with Captain Kirk"

"Spock, this link isn't stable. Stall him! But get here as soon as you can. Kirk out"

"Mister Scott, how diminished would our cloak be in this atmosphere?" Spock asked slowly, instantly knowing the answer.

"With the Beta Module Off-Line? I can give you 70% power to the cloak. However that ship would see a distortion in the clouds and know of our location if we try to move"

"Mister Spock? We have no idea of weapons capability of that ship, in this atmosphere our sensors are limited" Replied Lieutenant Sulu, as he half turned in his seat to face the center seat.

"We will require what the Captain calls… a distraction. Mister Scott, would it be possible to modify a sensor buoy to emit a warp signature which is identical to our own?"

"Aye? I could do that in moments. But that damned ship would see us moving and… move to intercept. I got it! Never thought that you had it in you Spock"

"I'm lost…" Doctor McCoy replied from a vacant seat on the bridge.

Bustling with activity, the Operations Center of Deep Space Nine monitored both the unknown ship via a relay from the USS Prometheus whilst expertly monitoring the traffic around their location, traffic ranging from civilian freighters to Starships and warships from both the Klingon and Romulan Empires. Entering the bridge from their private and classified meeting in the Captain's personal quarters, the Command Staff once again took their posts across the operations center while the Captain and Bajoran Colonel stepped to the lower deck and the situation table along with the Klingon General, the Starfleet Admiral and the young Ferengi Ensign.

"Captain, the Prometheus has reported that the unknown ship has begun to move"

"Inform their Captain… to monitor their position Mister Worf. If that ship leaves that planet? I want to know where they are heading"

"Sir, with their Cloak? We may not be able to track their movements" O'Brian reported as he sat at his station. "Their cloak is perfect Captain. We didn't even know that they where here until…"

"Captain. Intelligence reports from a planet known as Bakari, several hours ago? A human female matching the description of Doctor Rivers, assaulted three males before fleeing with two unknown humans, one male and one female" Lieutenant Commander Worf reported, instantly.

"What? How in the hell did they get past the Prometheus? How long will it take for the Defiant to reach that planet?"

"Four hours and fifty minutes, but they will have already have left the area by now Captain"

"Contact the Prometheus, order them to approach that ship"

"You think we are being played Ben?"

"I would bet on it Admiral. They have never revealed their ship. Mister Nog, you scanned Doctor Rivers and her Companion previously, are there any signs of Dominion technologies?"

"Nothing sir. You think that they could be Shape-Shifters?" He said as he turned pale.

"Check again. Colonel, order the crew of the Defiant to man their stations. I will deal with this personally!"

The continues pain of pushing the heavy cart up the seemingly endless and rugged hill whilst full of the heavy ore needed to power a starship had begun to take its toll on the exhausted and hungry elderly Romulan Admiral and with plans in place to make their escape from their own personal hell growing ever closer? A new lease on his life had flowed through the Romulan Admiral. With the time of their escape attempt growing ever near, their search for the favourite cousin of the Praetor had yet to reveal her location as rumours of her execution had echoed through the prison camp to anger the Romulan prisoners. Finally reaching the area where he would tip the heavy cart to push the ore into a long and winding shoot down into an unknown area, perhaps to refine the ore into a useable crystal for their captor's vessels, his feet began to slide on the loose gravel as the cart became heavier before a pair of soft hands reached out to hold the cart.

"It's been a long time sir" A soft female voice whispered from his side.

"Of all of the people, you where at the bottom of my list for a rescue" He said as he turned to look beneath a long hood.

"We are here, Admiral. Your message got through"

"Sinclair?" He whispered softly.

"She was injured, but alive. The last I heard. I'm not alone…"

Before her sentence was completed, another pair of hands pushed on the cart as the Admiral turned before nodding slightly at a familiar face stood by his side.

"Enterprise?"

"Alpha is on her way sir and hopefully bringing more help. We are in Beta, but she can't hold everyone"

"I knew that they would send you Kirk, you have always been my favourite student. We have a plan in motion to break out… everyone. With your help?" The Admiral whispered softly.

"What do you need?"

"A distraction Kirk, nothing more than a distraction"

"Of course. You'll know it when you see it Sir. Be ready. Where is…"

"Captain. We have yet to locate T'Rian" He whispered softly.

"We'll find her Admiral. I give you my word. I am not leaving this twisted reality without her… I gave my word to her Cousin, personally. Give me one hour and then make your move… good luck!"

Screaming through space at maximum warp speed with three Federation Starship in pursuit, the USS Enterprise under the command of Commander Spock, seemingly refused to cloak after an encoded transmission dispatched from the Beta Module of the vessel while the sensors onboard the three Federation Starships began to record every inch of the fleeing starship as much as possible. Utilising every asset available to him onboard the USS Defiant, Captain Sisko continued to analyse the capabilities of the fleeing vessel in an almost intricate detail from one of the few empty stations on the bridge of his vessel.

"Sir this design makes no sense at all!"

"Here it makes no sense Mister Nog. We design our ships for purpose, it seems that so do they?"

"Of course. With the Captain's permission? The vessel has smooth and rounded lines, the ventral side is… flat and shapeless, it follows none of the design…" Ensign Nog replied slowly. "… Captain, what if that ship is capable of separation, with the lower section is warp capable. Following the curvature of the vessel and with additional warp nacelles? The ship would appear as possibly a four nacelle design?"

"Can you project what that ship may look like, with four nacelles Ensign?" Sisko replied as he leaned backwards in his seat, to rub his eyes.

"Following the curves of the vessel and the almost flat underside, placing in twin nacelles of identical design? The deflector seems to be out of place, high for our standards. Similar to… a cross between the Sovereign and Prometheus sir. They slipped out, without us even knowing. I'll bet that Kirk is on that section"

"I should never have trusted them. Why haven't they cloaked?" Sisko whispered to himself. "Is it possible that the cloak is located, on the second portion of the ship?"

"Sir? That cloak is perfect, if they cloaked now? We would never find them until they want to be found" Called out the on duty science officer.

 _I could never get the lack of a Starfleet file on myself out my head, is it possible that I did not exist in this reality as my parents had never met, or even born? With so many counterparts of this crew existing here, could I be the anomaly here? Maybe I was born as a male, no! the computer would have identified the male DNA from the predictive programming and displayed that file. Perhaps, perhaps my counterpart had never joined their Starfleet, I only joined Starfleet because of my grades and at such a young age, I barely qualified for Starfleet Service._

 _This is a different reality and it stands to reason as I have seen that this reality is far different than our own. Perhaps my parents had never met here? I have destroyed my career in Starfleet and severed ties with all but one of my family, as only my Cousin will speak with me now. But this woman we had recovered, looks so much like her, perhaps she is in some way related in this reality? Kirk calls me a Mission Specialist, the truth is? That I am making this up with each heartbeat and I am terrified of what may happen next._

Stepping into the limited medical quarters of the Beta Module of the ship out of her own time and reality, the limited medical staff consisted of a junior doctor, barely out of medical school himself and unsure of his own purpose in the universe, a young and almost terrified man who's hands shook as he held the medical tricorder to scan the half-naked woman before him while she almost cowered away in fear.

"Let me help?"

"Doctor Rivers? Thank you" He said with an almost stutter.

"You're a Doctor?" She said slowly.

"Different kind, but I do know a few things about field medicine. My mother was a Doctor and she taught me a few things. What is your name?"

"Carrie, Carrie Kramer. But people call me Crystal" She said as she pulled her dirt covered top over her left shoulder slowly.

"Really? That is actually my first name, Crystal, I mean. You are very safe here, no one will hurt you"

"Where is my brother?" She said nervously.

"He is helping a friend to locate some people. How old are you?"

"I turned eighteen yesterday"

"Happy Birthday, Carrie. Why did you go to that world?" She said as she slowly scanned the young woman with a medical tricorder.

"When George escaped? He got word to me, I was to meet him there and we would run"

"Go where?"

"As far as possible, away from the Dominion. Please don't take us back to the Federation…"

"I'm not going to do that, I give you my word. In fact, what if I told you that we could take you someplace where the Dominion will never find you? A place with no wars and no one will harm you?"

"Not possible. They are everywhere!" She replied slowly, in fear of her very life.

"Trust me Carrie? You have no broken bones and aside from being hungry, thirsty and in need of a good shower? You'll be fine"

"As I said!" The Doctor mumbled to himself.

"What is this ship? Their uniforms look like Starfleet and that man I saw earlier, Is that?"

"Let's just say that we are not from around here and plan on leave as soon as our job is finished. This is only a small ship, but there is a shower in that back room to your left. The replicator is at your disposal for food, drink and clean clothing. The Doctor will assist you with anything else that you need, trust me Carrie? This is the safest place on the ship for you to be, when your brother is finished with my friend? I'll have him escorted back here"

"Thank you Doctor" She said with a sigh of relief.

"My name is Crystal, or Rivers if you prefer. Also, try and get some rest, you look exhausted"

 _She was so unsure of herself at that time, but what I saw in that young woman was not a lack of hope or fear, perhaps it was the presence of something amazing. The scans myself and the Doctor had taken of her had shown a high IQ, and the potential to be something great, given the chance. I knew that we couldn't help everyone on that terrible excuse for a planet, but perhaps we could help just two people? And with Starfleet now breathing down our collective necks and no doubt in pursuit of the Alpha Module of the Enterprise? Our time was running short, we had to act quickly in order to save the Republic officers from their fate and also protect our unsuspecting reality from the forces of the Dominion of this Reality._

Entering the system where the Beta Module had hidden itself, under the weakened cloaking device with the Federation fleet in hot pursuit, command Spock's order to raise the cloak had been given far to late as three Jem'Hadar fighters began to move in for an attack run against the seemingly Federation Starship, although agile beyond the comparable Federation Vessels, the diminished weapons capacity of the Alpha Module could barely hold its own against the three Dominion ships. Explosions began to rip through the ship while rocking hard to port and starboard while firing bolts and ribbons of phaser energy from the remaining weapons ports. Onboard the compact bridge of the Beta Module, Kirk's orders where to engage the Dominion fighters attacking his own vessel with a surprise attack from the rear of the enemy fleet as a separate vessel, rather than reforming the vessel into one powerful ship.

"Spock, we're in the zone. Break left, attack pattern Omega-Three, target the lead ship, we have the others" Kirk ordered, from the helm seat.

"Understood Captain"

Decloaking the small and agile section of the vessel while power began to return to the primary systems, four torpedoes sprang into life from the forwards torpedo launcher, independently guided towards their targets with the pale white glow of the powerful Type II-b Quantum Torpedoes, a new design given to the United Earth Alliance in recent years by their latest allies in return for type III-a cloaking system. Slamming into the unsuspecting ships from the limit of their range, one of the Dominion vessels exploded with a large fireball as the second vessel broke her formation only for the two torpedoes to follow in close pursuit. Spinning on her axis back towards the planet whilst reactivating the cloaking shields, the remaining two Dominion vessels quickly entered into warp speeds away from the system once they had detected the arrival of the Federation armada in pursuit of the alternate reality USS Enterprise.

"Did you see that? They ran!" Ensign Nog called out from the Helm of the USS Defiant.

"Status of that vessel?" Sisko asked instantly.

"Minor damage to their outer hull. It appears to be regenerating, Captain. Impressive…" Called out O'Brian from his console.

"Captain, sensors are detecting thousands of life-forms on the surface. It looks like the POW camp they spoke of, high traces of dilithium ore… it's a mining prison sir"

"Order all ships to converge on that planet, they where right!"


	5. Chapter 5

_Star Trek: Mirrors._

 _Chapter Five_

 _We have many rules within the Galactic Alliance of Worlds and perhaps the most important, unwritten rules was never to underestimate a Romulan or to piss off a Klingon and this Dominion had done both. Imprisoning the Klingons to force them to mine the Dilithium for their vessels was a serious tactical error and more so, turning their backs on the Officers of the Romulan Republic. In our reality, the Klingon Empire as been a constant thorn in the side of the GAW, with an almost constant boarder war for twenty years which had ended fifty years ago and since a Cold War had appeared on the scene, the reason why we had pushed our level of technologies to almost breaking point. We are not as advanced as people may have thought, especially the Federation, but when backed into a corner? We fight as one army and one fleet._

 _The former Romulan Star Empire of our reality is in fact Humanities' oldest interplanetary ally, during our earliest days of exploration and solitude expansion, one of our ships encountered a damaged alien vessel, our first contact with an alien species, a Romulan Vessel. At first, they greeted our ship with the remaining of their weapons active and once we had established a communication with the Imperial vessel and rendered assistance? Their ship was taken to our closest outpost colony for repairs and medical assistance while they sent for a vessel to assist from their Empire._

 _Within a month, three Romulan ships arrived in orbit of our colony, fully armed and ready for conflict which we could not have won due to our inferior technology although onboard of that damaged ship, was the Romulan Praetor himself, within the year, an alliance had formed between our two powers._

Rumours had circulated around the prison camp of a battle above the planet between the ships of the Dominion and an unknown vessel of exceptional abilities, having studied the Dominion native language during their captivity, word had begun to spread that the time was right for the prisoners to attempt their own freedom. Gathering whatever they could find as a weapon, mainly the tools used to mine the ore, pieces of metal ripped from the machinery around them, rocks and anything else usable, the prisoners began to flood into the mine itself swinging their makeshift weapons at the guards to strike them with as much force as their exhausted bodies could muster and taking their own weapons while moving through the facility like a unstoppable tidal wave of destruction and death.

"Tulan, take whoever you can to search for T'Rian"

"Yes, Admiral!"

"Admiral…" Called out a Starfleet Officer. "I don't know where you are from, but remember? The Jem'Hadar are capable of cloaking themselves. They are literally bread to fight and to kill"

"Thank you Captain. Tulan, remember that! Good luck, my student. We'll hold the line as long as possible"

"Don't worry, I'll find her and my own way out if needed. Captain, do you want some revenge? Come with me"

"Those bastards destroyed my ship and killed my crew, I'm with you!"

Tunnels and caverns began to run with the blood of the guards and prisoners amidst the chaos of the prison break in process. Dropping their own weapons to recover those of the fallen prisoners and guards in the process of their escape, the field of battle appeared more like an ancient earth battlefield with swords and armour rather than a late 24th century battlefield of energy and plasma weapons as due to such close quarters combat, the use of the energy weapons would have been a disaster for all. With blades and sharp pieces of metal, fists and feet, the struggle for their own freedom had been met with the arrival of hundreds of guards from the vessels docked or on the ground before the countless whines of transporter energies filled the cavern from above followed by the sounds of both phaser and disrupter energy expertly targeting the Dominion forces.

Turning instantly to look above him, the scarred and injured Romulan Admiral's eyes scanned the area before a half smile echoed over his face at the sight of one man stood with an United Earth Alliance standard issue Phaser Rifle as he stood to nod upon recognition of the Admiral.

"Oh my god, isn't that…" A Starfleet officer called out amidst the chaos.

"If not Sir, it's his double" Replied a young and injured Ensign at his side.

"A FLEET IS IN ORBIT! STANDBY FOR TRANSPORT!" Captain Kirk yelled instantly, while a cheer echoed before him.

"CAPTAIN, T'RIAN IS NOT HERE…" Called out the Romulan Admiral.

"I'll deal with it Sir!"

Weapons aimed before them and firing the instant they had seen an enemy or even the slightest of shimmering of a Jem'Hadar, the group of six escaping prisoners continued along their path, randomly firing at the heating pipes which had lined the walls to create a cloud of vapour which had often interacted with the Jem'Hadar capabilities before their shrouding capabilities had adjusted to the new atmosphere, they cautiously approached an isolated cell with their weapons ready. Pushing open a large metal door into a darkened room, light flooded into the room as a scream in fear filled the room followed by the sounds of shuffling into a darkened corner.

"Senator T'Rian?"

"Tulan? Is it really you, or am I seeing things?"

"It is me my old friend and I am here to return you home, to Romulus…" Tulan replied as she knelt before the terrified Romulan female. "To the Republic"

"They told me that everyone was dead?"

"We're getting you out of here. This is Captain Anderson from the USS Tempest, he will protect you while we move through these caverns"

High above the Prison Mining world, the Federation fleet had moved in to intercept the orbital weapons platforms whilst beaming aboard as many of the prisoners as possible, locking on to their allies, the alternate USS Enterprise had almost filled to evacuation capacity for the Alpha Module while the smaller Beta Module continued to run interference with the Dominion vessels launching from the surface. With numerous stains of blood on his clothes and face, the Romulan Admiral stepped onto the large bridge of the alternate Enterprise while Commander Spock turned to face the Admiral with a nod before offering the traditional Vulcan salute which had been returned by the Admiral as he stepped to the side of the First Officer.

"It is agreeable to see you once again Admiral"

"As it is, my son. Your arrival was most fortunate, our escape plan was in motion when your Captain transported to our location"

"As you can see Father, we are not alone. We have enlisted the assistance of this reality's Starfleet however, our actions in their enlistment are…"

"… Less than honourable" Lieutenant Sulu continued, as he turned to face the Admiral. "Admiral Sarek, always a pleasure to have you onboard sir"

"Our facilities are almost at breaking point Commander Spock" Ensign Chekov called out, instantly. "I am also detecting fourteen vessels on approach, ETA three minutes to weapons range"

"Senator T'Rian has been separated, Sub-Lieutenant Tulan is attempting to locate the Senator with assistance"

"Enterprise to Captain Kirk, Dominion reinforcements are about to enter weapons range"

"Status of the Alpha Module?" Kirk replied instantly.

"Captain, this is Lieutenant Uhura. We are almost beyond capacity…"

"The new shield configuration has permitted the transporters to be utilised as we had theorised, we have sustained minor damage however the auto repair systems are activated"

"Thank you Mister Scott. Spock, we can't reform the ship amidst this battle zone, Cloak your ship and set course for the anomaly, we will cover your retreat. Alert the Federation fleet to withdraw from this region… there is nothing more that they can do here, no sense in risking their vessels. Kirk out!"

 _It had taken Sub-Lieutenant Tulan fifteen minutes to locate and recover the Senator and once back onboard the Beta-Module of the Enterprise, we cloaked and leapt into high warp away from the system, our first course was to rendezvous with a Federation Starship and return the Starfleet Captain back to the Federation, during which time? He had discovered much about our reality and our Captain Kirk. Of the 826 members of the Republic imprisoned, we had lost 84 in the escape attempt with a further 168 wounded in their escape, including Senator T'Rian whom had been shot by a Jem'Hadar soldier, but not mortally wounded._

 _Upon returning to the anomaly, we had discovered that a Federation starship had been monitoring the anomaly, perhaps due to Captain Kirk's outburst. I had never seen a ship like it in my life, it was beautiful, sleek and elegant yet of an older design of over a century in the Federation reality, they called the class, Excelsior Class. The more I read of the Federation reality, the more I had become entranced with the Federation, it was nothing like the Galactic Alliance of Worlds, one major power commanding almost the entire Alpha Quadrant from Earth with the goal of mutual co-operation. The GAW was formed partially by the then newly reformed Romulan Republic and the United Earth Alliance with worlds joining as time had passed although unlike the Federation's own Starfleet? Each member world and power commanded their own fleet of vessels, each of separate design in their own unique style._

 _Studying their database, I had discovered something of which I knew that the Galactic Alliance of Worlds could use, I had discovered the design schematics for the USS Defiant and vessels of similar capabilities, designs which I had given to Captain Kirk and Admiral Sarek along with a new proposal, a proposal to finally unite the Galactic Alliance of Worlds as an almost mirror of the Federation with one combined fleet and the purpose of mutual co-operation, protection and exploration of the Galaxy, but… we must also prepare our forces for the Dominion in our own reality._

Merging the two modules of the Enterprise had yet to become a reality for the USS Enterprise crew as the Beta Module and her capabilities remained hidden from the Federation Starship in close formation. Also known as the Battle Section of the vessel, a small and highly agile vessel capable of high warp and unleashing a weapons load of power the Federation had yet to realise, the Beta Module remained cloaked beneath the Alpha Module while the crew and remaining former Dominion prisoners and officers had transported onboard the much larger section of the ship, Doctor Crystal Rivers had given her final debriefing on her findings to the Captain and Senior Staff which had also consisted of the senior staff from the Republic vessel in the observation lounge above and behind the main bridge.

"… And with the modified weapons, I believe that we can collapse both sides of the bridge between this reality and our own"

"Doctor Rivers, your plan has hidden dangers. The Alpha Module now carries two crew including the Senator herself, our first journey through the anomaly almost tore apart the Enterprise"

"Indeed it did, Ensign Chekov. And that is why the Alpha Module will pass through the Anomaly first. The Beta Module can operate with a crew of just one person for a short time, with the assistance of the computer. With the Captain's approval? I will command that module myself, no sense in risking anyone else in the attempt to close this side of the anomaly. Once Alpha has passed through? I will shut down all life-support with the exception of the bridge and divert all power to the engines and shields. I carry a Level Nine Starship Pilot qualification as the Captain knows, plus during my time running from the UEA, I picked up a few tricks. I will head into the anomaly once you are clear and launch the new torpedo design the computer is working on…"

"Doctor, I applaud your theory in this matter. The Beta Module may not survive the shockwave without the assistance of the Alpha Module's shields" Commander Spock stated, instantly.

"That's why I intend to use that said shockwave as a way to push Beta, once the shields are angled correctly, Theoretically? I should be able to surf through to the other side on front of that shockwave. Captain Kirk, Admiral Sarek? I will not risk both you ship and your crews on this. If I don't make it through, what is the loss of a criminal to the Alliance anyway. Captain, James… let me do this?"

 _I couldn't believe that Kirk had finally agreed to my idea, it was after all a suicide mission, but I had decades left on my sentence back home and if I had survive? I will face that sentence and return to my cell. I could not have known what would come next. I had always prided myself on knowing what people would do, before they had done it. But this was… different. Privately I had informed Kirk that I had promised George Kramer and his sister safe passage to our reality and after one hour of constant arguments, Kirk had agreed to grant them both safe passage. George Kramer was originally a Starship designer before being drafted onto the front-lines during the Dominion War, and I knew that he could be useful to the Alliance, both of them…_

Stood alone on the bridge of the Beta-Module of the powerful USS Enterprise, her eyes slowly moved between the helm and the Command seat of the ship. Having programmed the computer to respond to her every command, the logical choice was to take the Command seat, although her primary instinct was to sit at the small curved console, the helm. Accessing the controls on the left armrest of the seat, a five-point seatbelt wrapped around the single person onboard of the small section of the vessel whilst on the screen before her, the sleek and elegantly designed Federation starship backed away slowly while the remaining module of the USS Enterprise began to move inside of the anomaly before disappearing.

"Computer, arm the aft weapons… bring shield configuration Rivers-One on-line and begin a countdown timer for… 30 seconds, that should give Kirk enough time to get clear of the anomaly"

"Orders confirmed" Replied the Computer. "30, 29, 28..."

"May fortune favour the bold… bringing impulse engines on-line, half power"

"Warning! Life sign detected, deck 27, section 17" Called out the computer instantly.

"WHAT? Identify life form"

"Human Female… life support in that section has…"

"Been deactivated, damn it! Lock on and beam to the bridge, now!"

Turning instantly at the sound of a transporter beam materialising the form of a young woman, Rivers instantly deactivated the restraints around her body before leaping from the seat to pick up the human female from the floor as she gasped for air only to throw her into the command seat and activate the restraints and to sit into her own seat with a deep anger.

"Cassie? What the hell are you doing?"

"Helping out? I thought that you could use an extra hand"

"I know what I am doing… stay there and shut up for a moment. Computer, time?"

"5, 4..."

"We're not in position! Brace yourself for impact!"

 _Captain's Log._

 _Classified Entry._

 _Final Update._

 _We held position at the mouth of the anomaly, the anomaly has collapsed and sealed, our last sensor lock on the Beta Module recorded an explosion as it had attempted to emerge from the anomaly before it had collapsed. Fifteen minutes ago, the once damaged Republic cruiser had returned to our location to recover their surviving lost crew for return to the Republic._

 _Although the UEA has yet to locate the family of Doctor Crystal Rivers to inform them of her death, I maintain that we will find any family, but she was correct in her assessment, we must prepare for the enemy known as The Dominion and other enemies of the Federation as upon investigation of the Federation Database by Starfleet Security, a new and more terrifying enemy has come to light, an enemy known as The Borg and we will be ready._

 _At least I have a list of her former criminal contacts and once the Enterprise is repaired? Our mission is clear, we will go after them, all of them._

File Number: DH4-5724-FSD-221-Alpha.

Status of File: Classified.

Subject: Rivers. Doctor Crystal.

Rank: Lieutenant Junior (Formally)

Personal Status: Missing in Action. Presumed Deceased.

Cause of Death: Pulse-Wave Torpedo to collapse inter-dimensional anomaly whilst Mid Transit through stated anomaly.

Earth Calendar: June 3rd 2377.

Location: Deep Space.

Rumours of a small and powerful vessel had echoed through the Federation, a vessel of unknown and unique design which had begun to rip apart the criminal empires hiding from the Federation beyond their own territories. At the end of the Dominion War and with the retreat of Dominion forces back through the wormhole, each power had begun to rebuild their forces and to count their losses while a small fleet of starships had been dispatched to locate the unknown vessel. Finally locating the vessel whilst orbiting an uninhabited and Earth-like planet beyond the rim of Federation space, the commander of the unknown vessel sat before crashing waves with a young woman at her side seemingly enjoying the heat of a tropical world.

"You know, it's not polite to sneak up behind someone, especially in our current state? you can go back to whatever Admiral sent you out here and tell him or her, our answer is the same as it was a year ago, we're not interested"

"You have not heard my question" A tall and bald Starfleet Captain replied as he sat at her side with a smile. "Miss Rivers, I have come a very long way to speak with you both, just a moment of your time please and if you are not satisfied with what I have to say? I will leave"

"Then allow me to make an educated guess. In the past year, an unknown vessel has been ripping apart several of the larger criminal empires in the region beyond Federation space and as such, some Admiral has sent you and several other vessels to locate that ship which has led you to myself and my friend here?" Rivers replied as she sat slowly upright with a deep sigh.

"Indeed, we known of your vessel and two young women matching your descriptions have been seen on several worlds beyond Federation space at the same time as several criminal empires had been brought before the authorities on several worlds…"

"I'm a Doctor, not a Mercenary Captain. My qualifications are in subspace anomalies and temporal events, Cassie is my research assistant. You can clearly see our shuttle on the sands to your left. Now, if you will excuse me Captain? you are in my sun and I prefer an even tan" The Doctor replied with a cocky smile, as she leaned backwards to lay down on the cover over the sands.

"We are willing to compensate you for your time Doctor Rivers, we know that you are looking for a way back home, I have been authorised to inform you that the Federation will begin research into reopening the vortex, pending your acceptance of our proposal. We are also willing to assist with repairs to your vessel and to rearm said vessel…"

"You have me mistaken with someone else Captain Picard. I know who you are, the only reason I am entertaining your wild accusations is due to the fact that you are the Captain of the USS Enterprise"

"Crystal… he is starting to annoy me" Cassie Kramer said with a deep sigh.

"Theoretically speaking of course, if you indeed you are the said people I have been dispatched to search for, you can not effectively command such a vessel with just two people"

"Captain? the vessel which you claim that we are in possession of is the most advanced ship in the quadrant, her technology although from another time and reality, is thirty years more advanced than anything that the Federation owns. Your own USS Prometheus could not keep up with that ship and she is the fastest vessel in your fleet. I read the reports on the stated incident last year, Captain Kirk's vessel, returned to his own reality, it is gone sir" Doctor Rivers stated with a groan as she slowly stood before the Captain. "My eyes are up here Captain Picard, please focus on them and not my chest?"

"Doctor Rivers, I know who you are, where and when you came from. you where once a member of that Captain Kirk's own crew and you where stranded here when the anomaly collapsed, your ship was thrown back through the vortex prior to it's collapse. The sensor data has been classified at the highest level… but if you are not the same Doctor Crystal Rivers, formally a Lieutenant Junior Crystal Rivers of that Starfleet? then I have merely wasted my own time"

"I am sorry sir, I am not that same Doctor Rivers. My name is a family one Captain and you have wasted your own time" Rivers said with a smile as she once again lay on the towel.

"Very well, but permit me to ask you one question before I leave? Are you familiar with the Lenka-Ardus expanse?"

"An large void of nothingness, which contains just one anomaly, a trinary star system with 27 planets and uncountable moons. The inner 10 planets are rock-like, numbers 4 to 10 are habitable, 6 and 7 are inhabited. Number 8 being similar to Andoria at the rim of the inhabitable zone is often used by those selling illegal technologies? I've heard of it!" Rivers said with a smile. "If you will excuse me? You are still in my sun, I do like an even tan. your time has expired, god day Captain Picard"

"Two months ago, a human male was seen on the seventh planet in that system selling technologies which could only have come from the Alternate Captain Kirk's vessel. The system is beyond our territories and as the technologies do not belong to the Federation? it beyond our Jurisdiction making us powerless to act. The funny thing about this whole thing is? that Human male has a unique quantum signature which is identical to your own, Doctor Rivers. We scanned you from orbit, we know who you are, so enough of your games. Someone from your own reality is selling advanced technologies to a primitive species, the Federation has a Prime Directive which forbids such actions, I can only hope that so does your own. Good day ladies, enjoy the sun"

 _Picard left behind a Starfleet Data-Tablet which contained the entire reports and scans of the person in question. Someone was indeed selling Galactic Alliance of Worlds technologies to a primitive species and he was right, my own reality did in fact have a law which is similar to their Prime Directive. I couldn't resist to look at the reports, boarding the ship in which myself and Cassie had renamed Sentinel, our goal was to stop whomever had been selling the Technologies to a primitive world with the hopes of finding a way back to my reality where Cassie's own brother was hopefully waiting._

 _Our discovery was not what we had thought, it wasn't anyone whom had reopened the anomaly, but an escaped convict from our own reality whom had been pulled inside after the Enterprise had passed through into this reality on that mission which had stranded myself here, he became apart of our small crew of now three as he was also looking for a way home by funding his own research with the money he had made from his sales._

 _The Federation now knows that we exist, with Cassie Kramer and Jonas Barrett as my only crew? we don't run nor do we hide from the Federation, but we work with their Starfleet Security, we are known as 'Fixers', we fix the problems that Starfleet can not due to Jurisdiction problems, although our vessel always remains hidden from Starfleet and their greedy eyes._

 _In our reality, Jonas was an Engineer and Ship Designer whom had helped to design the next generation of United Earth Alliance vessels similar to the complete Enterprise and as such, was able to modify the Beta-Module known to us as Sentinel into something greater, our cloak is now fully effective and our ship has begun to expand into a new design, we have added what Starfleet would call a primary hull, although our bridge remains hidden inside of the vessel and now, we are looking for a small crew of like-minded people to assist with our new venture of returning to our reality. But, we don't always work for Starfleet…_

 _If you can afford us, make the Call!_


End file.
